MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to restore bilateral relations with the US at a pace suitable for Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Friday.
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"Of course, it will be difficult to restore relations destroyed by the Obama administration, but it is possible, so we will take steps and work at a pace suitable for the US," he said. "We do not seek to push any processes."
The Russian diplomat expressed confidence that the current period of tensions in Russian-US relations would end sooner or later. "Unfortunately, some influential forces in the US have been taking using relations with Russia as a tool for achieving their own goals, they consider bilateral relations to be collateral damage in the war they have been fighting inside the country," Ryabkov noted. "It causes very much regret, but we are not inclined make a big deal out of it. This is their business, we do not interfere in internal affairs."
He also said that Russia was ready to wait some time more, "until the new US administration makes appointments to all important positions and outlines its foreign policy priorities, particularly as far as Russia is concerned."